Card games are useful for amusement, entertainment, and education. Most card games typically require two or more players who play against each other to determine a winner. There are, however, a few card games that require or can be played by only one player.
One well-known game for one player, commonly referred to as solitaire, is played with a deck of face cards. Most decks of face cards typically have four suits of thirteen cards each, beginning with numbered cards two through ten, a jack, queen, king, and an ace. The object of the game is to randomly draw cards from the deck and place them face up on a playing surface in four columns corresponding to the four suits. The rules of the game require that cards be placed in their respective suit in ascending or descending order. If a card drawn from the deck cannot be played in one of the four suits, it is either placed in a discard pile or placed back into the deck where it can be later drawn and played. Depending on the rules, it is possible to either complete the game or to reach a point where there are not more cards to be drawn and the unplayed cards in the discard pile are in an order such that it would be impossible to complete the four suits.
While this and other card games for one player provide some interest and challenge, they generally lack any educational value. For instance, the terminology and identifying characters used with the deck of the face cards described above is of ancient origin and, while interesting, provides no useful information to the player. Hence, there is a need for a card game designed for one player that provides education and intellectual stimulation as well as amusement and entertainment for not only adults but also children.